Percy D.
Yelp
I'm a boxing fan, and I want to attend as many live events as possible. The problem? Once the general public can recognize the name and the face of the fighter, you have to pay through the nose to watch him fight. Case in point, I took my dad to Las Vegas to watch one fighter before he got famous: Manny Pacquiao in his third fight versus Erik Morales, back in 2006. $100 a ticket got us the last row - backs literally against the wall - on the first level of the Thomas & Mack Center. Fast forward to present times, and you'd be lucky if that $100 got you into a closed-circuit viewing in Vegas of the Pacquaio-Mayweather fight last year.
The Theater at Madison Square Garden provides fans like me with an opportunity. For $25 (roughly $31 after fees), you can sit in the 300 level seats and catch fighters before they become household names. I've sat off to the side as well as in the middle, and as far back as row L. In each case, definitely worth the $31. Of course, the middle and further up front is better, but can you really find a better price point?
I've seen some complaints about the venue, so let me help you guys and gals out:
Complaint: I didn't know whether I was supposed to go the MSG or The Theater at MSG!
Solution: Read your ticket. Reading is key.
Complaint: I couldn't find my seat!
Solution: Read the signs. Find your section, find the row designation, and then look at the first empty seat for its number. Chances are good that all seats directly behind that one will be the same number. Then look to the adjacent seat. If the number is smaller than the previous one, you've just spotted a very useful pattern.
Complaint: That's too complicated! I need an usher and no one is here to help me!
Solution: Come earlier. Less people, more available ushers.
Complaint: The seats are too small! And the rows are too narrow!
Solution: These are really not the accommodations I expected when I booked a room at the Ritz-Carlton. I need to speak to your mana - oh wait, this is an arena. This is kinda how they build them. (In all seriousness, I've never had a problem with this aspect of The Theater, though.)
Complaint: My beer was too expensive!
Solution: Look to your left. Now look to your right. Are you in New York City? Find an exit, walk out of it, and keep walking until the point when you look to your left and to your right, you are no longer in NYC. Then, walk another 20 miles for good measure. Your beer should be cheaper now.
Hope that helps.
(By the way, for you fight fans...some of the fighters I've seen here: Gennady Golovkin, Gabriel Rosado, Orlando Salido, Mikey Garcia, Roman Martinez, Glen Tapia, Nonito Donaire, Terrence Crawford, Felix Verdejo, Hank Lundy.)